Capital: San José
Area: 51,100 km²
Population: 4.1 million (July 2006)
Ethnic groups: Spanish descent, African descent, indigenous or Chinese descent
Official language(s): Spanish
Religion(s): Roman Catholic, Protestant
Currency: 1 Costa Rican colón = 100 centimos
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
It was on the initiative of the Austrian, Roderich Thun and his wife, Manuela, who was the granddaughter of the former Costa Rican President Rafael Iglesias, that Hermann Gmeiner's SOS Children's Village concept found its way to Costa Rica in 1972. However, the devastating earthquake in Nicaragua that year led the Thuns to help in this country first. This meant that the construction of the first SOS Children's Village in Costa Rica was delayed somewhat. The site chosen was Tres Ríos, not far from the capital, San José. Hermann Gmeiner personally carried out the official cornerstone-laying ceremony on April 2nd, 1975. By August of the same year, the first family houses were already ready for their new occupants.
Over the years, more and more additional facilities were added to SOS Children's Village Tres Ríos, the most notable of which is the prevention programme mainly aimed at families in the surrounding area. This programme should help them overcome difficult situations and enable them to create a better future for themselves.
A tornado hit the central and south-western parts of the country in July 1996, causing vast damage to a third of the country. About half a million people were affected by the storm. An SOS Emergency Relief Programme was set up and within days 6,000 children were being given aid goods. The state aid teams and health authorities were being assisted in helping to prevent the outbreak of diseases. It also helped to rebuild a school and distributed school materials to 2,500 pupils.
The SOS Hermann Gmeiner College in Santa Ana went into operation in February 2000. In order to offer the gifted pupils from all over Latin America much better education possibilities, the college was handed over to our partner the United World College in August 2006.
In March 2005 SOS Children’s Villages started to operate Family Strengthening Programmes, which enable children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers.
At present there are four SOS Children's Villages, one SOS Youth Facility, one SOS Vocational Training Centre and one SOS Social Centre in Costa Rica.